The “Wonders from Down Under” strike again! The two AARONS—VANDERKLEY and CHAPPELL—are an inseparable team and an unstoppable force when it comes to creating visually stunning Star Trek fan films! Aaron V. writes and directs while his significant other, Aaron C., builds the sets…and both share the title of executive producer on their latest releases.
Based in Perth, Australia, Aaron V. began producing Star Trek fan films in 2016 (before he met Aaron C.), bursting into the spotlight with five jaw-dropping NX-era fan films over the span of four years…
Few fan filmmakers attempt 22nd century Trek projects due to the complexities of designing sets and obtaining/creating costumes for that time period. But Aaron V. dove headfirst into the challenge, directing trained actors within a ridiculously tiny shooting space that somehow turned into a series of very believable starship and starbase interiors.
After a 2-year hiatus, Aaron V. returned in 2021, this time with Aaron C. on the team, and transitioned from the 22nd to the 24th century, now on board the Nova-class starship U.S.S. Explorer. The sets and costumes were still as good—if not better!—as their predecessors, but now the look and feel was firmly in the Star Trek: Voyager era.
Newly rebranded under the banner “THESE ARE THE VOYAGES,” the two Aarons released one episode in 2021 and then two in 2022…
Each was on a similar quality level as the first five NX-era fan films, and all eight are definitely worth checking out.
The Aarons then took some much-needed time off, as making this caliber of Trek fan film, while fun, is very time-consuming and labor-intensive. And while it would have been awesome (and very convenient!) if they’d been able to save their previous sets for future use, the frustrating fact is that the space they shoot inside is used for other purposes, and the Aarons have nowhere available to store the often-sizable set pieces.
The Australian duo didn’t release anything new last last year, but on September 14 of this year, an ultra-short vignette titled UNAVOIDABLE DELAYS premiered with an absolutely gorgeous crew quarters set. The two-and-a-half-minute fan film featured two actors with speaking parts. One of these actors was MAXIMILIANO LAFFONT, who had played an engineer in their previous release Beyond the Sun. When last we saw his character, he had disobeyed an order from the captain and gotten into some serious trouble. Unavoidable Delays appears to be a sequel to that story, picking up with the engineer confined to quarters, awaiting a meeting with the captain.
Let’s see what happened next…
I found this absolutely hilarious! And since it’s always interesting to get some insight into what goes onto behind-the-scenes, I sent Aaron V. a few questions and got really enlightening answers. And stick around till the very end of the blog, as Aaron sent me a ton of photos from the set that appear at the bottom…
Continue reading “UNAVOIDABLE DELAYS constructs an amazing VOYAGER-era crew quarters set for a 2.5 MINUTE fan film???”